Tuesday, December 9, 2008

With all cookies I've been making for Christmas & vegetables I have to much of from our CSA, I've been freezing a lot lately. It seems though that I've been getting freezer burn really quickly on my meats & vegetables. We'll I don't have that problem anymore since we got the Ziploc Vacuum Bags. Target had the starter kit with the pump & two sizes of bags on sale so we picked one up to try.Look at the difference in these two pieces of flank steak that had been frozen for only a week! We like to buy meat when its on sale & freeze it & now I feel like it will be kept at its best.

This system works so easily, you just put the pump over the special vent on the bags, pump a few times until the air is gone & your done. Plus its so much cheaper than a electric vacuum sealer. I even wash the bags & use them again which makes it even a better value.

I've wanted to try those too, but I've been to cheap to take the risk. Good to know they actually make a difference.

Can you reuse the bags? That would be nice.

Well, if you're ever in a bind and run out of the new vacuum bags, close a normal freezer ziplock almost all the way, squeeze all the air out you can then, take a straw and suck the rest of the air out and zip it up real quick. But I only do this with veggies, I don't use the straw technique with meat. That has the potential to be yucky, so I haven't dared to do it. :)

I have one of those vacuum sealer bags. A present a couple years ago. It does work great. I sure wish they had this on the market then. I find the bags are super expensive. I too like to wash them. Especially if I have fruits int here. We freeze a lot as well. It's a great way to save money!

I always thought that was just a lot of hype. But I look at your demo and I am very impressed. Thank you for showing us that. AND the fact that it was the hand held one, and not the high priced electric one that needs the special bags.

I have tried these Ziplock bags now for a few weeks with great results. The frozen stuff seems to be holding the vacuum seal just fine. I have tried re-using the bags for whole coffee and they don't work after a few times. Even after washing them, (I thought the seals may have bits of coffee stuck in them). I always wanted one of those Foodsaver/Tila sealers but just couldn't afford the counter space (or the price tag!).